Bonus Video: The Power of Propaganda

Note - video will not appear on mobile devices running iOS.

Many Americans could not fathom that some people heard War of the Worlds and actually believed that Martians had landed in New Jersey. Over 12,000 articles were published about War of the Worlds in the two weeks following the broadcast. Time and again, editorial pages blamed the listener. To journalist Dorothy Thompson, who applauded Welles in her widely-read column, the episode cleverly proved the power of propaganda. Watch this video to hear what she wrote in her column.

"War of the Worlds" premieres October 29 at 9pm ET on PBS.

About the Film

War of the Worlds

Shortly after 8 p.m. on the Halloween Eve, 1938, the voice of a panicked radio announcer broke in with a news bulletin reporting strange explosions taking place on the planet Mars, followed minutes later by a report that Martians had landed in the tiny town of Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Although most listeners understood that the program was a radio drama, the next day's headlines reported that thousands of others plunged into panic, convinced that America was under a deadly Martian attack. It turned out to be H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds, performed by 23-year-old Orson Welles.